Howell County

Howell County is located in south-central Missouri. The County Seat is West Plains and the largest city is West Plains. The Official Web Site is located at http://howellcounty.net/. The 2014 population estimate is 40,173 and the 2010 census population was 40,400. The land area is 927.25 square miles and there are 43.6 persons per square mile.

96.5% of the population is White, 0.5% is Black or African American, 1.8% is Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% is Asian, 0.7% is American Indian or Alaska Native, 0% is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 1.7% is two or more races. 82.6% have a high school degree or higher, and 15.4% have a Bachelor degree or higher.

The median home value is $97,700, there are 15,796 households, an average of 2.52 persons per household. The per capita income is $17,416, the median household income is $32,533, and 23.8% of the persons in Howell County are considered below poverty level.

The total number of firms, at last estimate, was 4,515. Retail sales (in $1000) were $545,843, and sales per capita were $14,163. The percentage of black-owned firms is 0%, and the percentage of women-owned firms is 18.4%.